From my experience on SE sites, I believe this is the right site to ask this question under "terminology".

I've been trying to find out whether English has one-word verbs for "undergo mitosis" and "undergo meiosis". I haven't been able to find confirmation on Google, but my linguistic imagination is limited, and I may have failed to google the right things.

Could you tell me if there are such verbs in common use in biology? I mean, if such verbs exist, can I find them in modern biology books or papers?

How about "divide" or even "multiply" (if you include the entire cell cycle)? Those are generic terms, but the process is called cell division. And minor pet peeve of mine: "Google" isn't a verb...
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jelloAug 23 '12 at 3:16

1

@jello Thank you. As for "google", sorry, but it is.
–
ymarAug 23 '12 at 9:11

3 Answers
3

I'm actually not sure myself. If I were to use something, I would go with "Mitos'd" and "Meios'd".

However, you may not win over many fans, depending on the audience. If it's with students or maybe a professor, you could get away with shortening the processes. If it's in any formal setting, be as precise and descriptive as possible. It's not a lot of trouble to be more accurate and add "underwent" to the sentence.

I agree - I do not recall seeing a verb for these actions, so in a paper or report use the actual terminology. But during discussions I'm sure people will get your meaning if you shorten the terms to "mitose" or "mitosed", or something.
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LukeAug 23 '12 at 8:42

Languages evolve on their own when they need to, you should embrace it rather than worrying about some language stickler telling you made a typo.

I think everyone would know what you mean by "meios" and "mitos", and it might catch on. I'm not advocating slang, but given the opaque jargon I see scientists making up every day, I'd advocate streamlining the terminology before someone invents some abominable acronym for a clumsy phrase built around "undergoes meiosis".